Category: Ethereum

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Bitcoin Cardano Crypto News Ethereum Markets

Crypto Extends Recent Gains, Market Rebounds Back to $2 Trillion

It’s good news for the crypto community as the market recovers positively after months of constant price corrections, once again crossing the US$2 trillion threshold.

Ethereum Up 18%, ADA Surges 40%

On August 11, the overall crypto market retook its $2 trillion peak following months of massive price corrections that wiped $1 trillion from the market. Bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies were on the green, especially Ethereum, which has been up over 18 percent following the activation of the London hard fork.

Throughout last week, BTC surged 14%, currently priced at US $47,239 as per data from Coinmarketcap. BNB is up 17%, Ripple by 39%, and the one that surprised everyone is ADA, which performed extremely well in the market – up by 40% – after Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson announced that the Alonzo hard fork is imminent. DOGE almost took the protagonism of ADA by surging 39% in the market.

Market Thrives Despite Regulatory Hurdles

The crypto market is ignoring global regulatory uncertainties. Many thought the recent bipartisan infrastructure bill imposed by American authorities would tumble the market, yet it didn’t have as strong an effect as expected. 

As Crypto News Australia has reported, the battle for crypto amendments in the US sparked a heated discussion between politicians and industry leaders on Twitter, many calling for proper, revised amendments to change the bill’s outdated and poorly written language. There might be a light at the end of the tunnel with Democrat Senator Anna Eshoo urging House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to amend some of the flaws in that bill.

Despite the regulatory uncertainty, bulls are taking the upper hand, and the Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index is finally showing extreme greed after three months. We could also have a new wave of SMSFs approaching the market, as happened on April 8 this year.

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Crypto News Ethereum

ETH Up 18% After Burning $100 Million in Fees Since EIP-1559

The London upgrade is now one week past and ETH holders are all standing around the bonfire with bags full … let the burn begin!

According to watchtheburn.com – a website dedicated to tracking Ethereum burns in real time – over 36,216 of ETH and counting has now been burned since the rollout of EIP-1559 on August 4. The new protocol changes will see the biggest blockchain in DeFi and NFTs become deflationary.

Since ETH is being burned on every transaction, fees previously paid to miners are now being destroyed, reducing the circulating supply and thus driving up the price. The EIP-1559 “Ethereum Improvement Proposal” altered the transaction fee structure for the network – instead of fees going directly to the miners that process and validate transactions, a base fee now goes to the network and is burned.

The upgrade has also doubled the maximum Ethereum block size, accommodating transactions that can contain up to 30 million in gas (the previous limit was 15 million). This is designed to help with periods of high demand.

watchtheburn.com

Since the London hard fork, over US$100 million in ETH has been taken out of circulation and has seen the price of ETH increase from US$2,725 to around US$3,200.

Thanks to the mania surrounding NFTs of late, over 10 percent of the burned fees have come via transactions on NFT marketplace OpenSea. Who’s to know if the increase of ETH’s price is actually due to the London upgrade, since the market has recently seen a return to the upside across the board?

Regardless, sentiment on Twitter is largely bullish:

For more information, Crypto News Australia recently covered everything you need to know about the London hard fork.

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Blockchain Crypto News Ethereum Reddit

Reddit Now Worth $10 Billion Following Fund Raise to Push Ethereum Token Rewards

Reddit is making big plays in securing capital this year with another whopping round of funding driving up its value. The online community has announced a valuation of US$10 billion as it continues to expand its engagement in the crypto world.

Reddit has announced that it has raised US$410 million in a Series F round of funding led by Fidelity Management and Research LLC. Following this round, the valuation of Reddit goes up from US$6 billion, which it achieved six months ago, to an impressive US$10 billion. The company expects existing investors to take part in this round, bring the total amount raised to US$700 million.

Funding Not Planned

Steve Huffman, co-founder and chief executive of Reddit, said in an interview that the funding was not planned, but “Fidelity made us an offer that we could not refuse”. He went on to say that the capital will offer it more time to decide how and when it would go public.  

We want to build what is best for new users, because over time it will be best for everyone.

Steve Huffman, Reddit CEO

The discussion board platform said it intends to use the capital to improve product features and wants to make the platform easier for newcomers to explore and understand.

Reddit, which makes most of its money from selling advertising wishes to enhance video products. Advertisements appear in the feeds of users who browse the topic-based forums, known as “subreddits”.

The company, with 52 million daily users, operates in the shadows of digital giants such as Twitter and Facebook. Twitter, with a valuation of US$52 billion, and 206 million monetisable daily users, and Facebook with a value of US$1 trillion and two billion daily users, dwarf the site, making this round of funding crucial for Reddit.

The platform also intends to expand internationally as most of the site is US-centric.

Things are beginning to look up for Reddit. The company surpassed US$100 million in quarterly revenue for the first time in the second quarter of this year, up 192 percent from the same period in 2020.

Keeping Users Happy

Further enticing users on its platform, Reddit is expanding its Community Points crypto reward initiative. Reddit users will be rewarded with Community Points if they post quality content on the platform. The Ethereum-based token can then be used to unlock additional features on the site, or can be swapped for other cryptocurrencies on an exchange.

Community Points are currently offered on only two of the 100,000 subreddits. Moon tokens (RCP) are available on r/CryptoCurrency and Brick tokens are available on r/FortNiteBR. Moon tokens currently trade at US$0.28 and Brick tokens at US$0.05.

Reddit also recently announced it will be using layer-2 scaling solution Arbitrum to scale Bricks and Moons. Arbitrum is just one of the many “rollups” currently being developed on Ethereum. The solution will take a large number of transactions first conducted on a different blockchain and will then roll them up into a single Ethereum block. This will reduce overall transaction fees massively.

The company has not yet announced when it will be expanding its Community Points into other subreddits.

The first priority on the product is just making Reddit awesome.

Steve Huffman

By Jana Serfontein, Crypto News Australia Guest Author

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Crypto News Ethereum NFTs

People Are Going Apeshit for Bored Ape NFTs as One Sells for $1.29 Million

The NFT craze is officially out of its tree with a Bored Ape Yacht Club token selling this week for the equivalent of US$1.29 million, a new record price for the BAYC collection.

BAYC #3749

On August 11, BAYC #3749 – one of 69 in the current series – sold for 400 ETH on OpenSea. It last changed hands on July 16 for US$318,771, with the seller pocketing more than a million dollars’ profit in less than a month.

To put these prices in appropriately wacky context, a simple grey and black NFT of a “pet rock” sold for over US$100,000 earlier this month to emphasise the fact that prices for collectible tokens of dubious artistic merit are off the scale.

The distinctive BAYC #3749 NFT (above) was bought by OpenSea user Boothy, who also purchased BAYC #9507 for US$175,140 on August 9. What is claimed to make his latest buy unique is its combination of rare features: it’s one of 3 percent of Bored Apes that sport a black T-shirt and a sea captain’s hat, and one of 4 percent with a grin on its face. It’s also the only one of the series with laser eyes and one of 46 of the 69 with “solid gold” fur.

Other examples of the BAYC collection. Source: fractional.art

The BAYC collection launched in April with a minting price of between US$200 and $300 depending on gas fees. Other distinctive features of Apes in the collection include crucifix earrings and robot eyes. A dagger in the mouth can add more than 70 ETH (US$220,000) to the asking price of a single Ape.

The cartoonish simian traits are all randomly generated using an algorithm designed by Yugo Labs.

Bored Ape Yacht Club Donates 66 ETH to Orangutan Charity

Last week, Bored Ape Yacht Club donated 66.45 ETH (US$208,000) to Orangutan Outreach, making a total of US$850,000 it has gifted to the charity so far. The donation was made via an Ethereum transaction through crypto philanthropy platform The Giving Block.

Founded in 2007, Orangutan Outreach is a New York-based non-profit devoted to protecting orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra.

In further positive news involving otherwise seemingly frivolous tokens, NFTs are set to play a key role in wildlife conservation, specifically the endangered Seychelles magpie robin.

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Australia Bitcoin Crypto News Ethereum

Alex Saunders’ Woes Continue: $479,000 Lawsuit Filed Over Unpaid Crypto Loans

Australian crypto influencer Alex Saunders, who went to ground last month after rumours of multiple defaulted loans went wildfire on Twitter, is the subject of a near half-a-million dollar lawsuit filed this week.

New Zealand investor Ziv Himmelfarb is seeking A$479,270 in losses and damages for cryptocurrencies he allegedly loaned Saunders to invest in a putative stablecoin project:

In the statement of claim filed by lawyers for Himmelfarb in the Supreme Court of Victoria, he alleges that Saunders contacted him via Facebook in February and offered him an interest in a “long/short crypto fund”.

Himmelfarb claims he transferred 4 bitcoins to Saunders, which at the time were valued at A$269,682.14.

In April, Saunders allegedly asked Himmelfarb to invest in a “DCB project” and was transferred the equivalent of $65,282.67 in USDC.

No Goods, No Services, No Reimbursement

Saunders is alleged to have provided no goods or services to Himmelfarb for the digital currencies transferred, nor has he reimbursed the funds despite several requests to do so.

Himmelfarb further alleges he transferred to Saunders 30 ETH coins worth A$144,305.35 in May by way of a loan, which also remains unpaid.

The A$479,270.16 in loss and damages Himmelfarb seeks includes the monetary value of the combined digital currencies loaned to Saunders, plus interest and costs.

“Wrongfully, the defendant has failed and/or refused to transfer to the plaintiff the bitcoins, USDC and ETH coins,” states the writ lodged in the commercial division of the Victorian Supreme Court.

Nugget’s News founder Alex Saunders. Source: twitter.com

Saunders (above), who is based in Launceston, Tasmania and is the founder and CEO of digital media channel Nugget’s News, has yet to file a defence and remains silent on this and other matters relating to unpaid crypto loans.

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Crypto News Ethereum NFTs

NFT Mania Continues as Someone Buys an NFT Pet Rock for $103k

In the latest EtherRock NFT drop, a simple grey and black digital illustration of a “pet rock” has sold for over US$100,000.

EtherRock #33 is one out of a collection of 100 digital rock NFTs, but it isn’t just any rock. EtherRocks is a project that was launched just after CryptoPunks NFTs in 2017.

The EtherRock series is a collection of the first NFTs created and minted on the Ethereum blockchain, making them highly sought-after because of their crypto pedigree. The number one piece from the series, rock ID #0, has an asking price of 1000 ETH (a cool US$3 million).

Is NFT Mania Out of Hand?

Have people gone mad, or will these NFTs hold their value and stand the test of time? These virtual rocks serve no purpose beyond being able to be bought and sold, giving each owner little more than a sense of pride in being the owner of one of 100 rocks in existence.

All 100 out of 100 EtherRocks have been sold. The only way now to own an EtherRock is to buy it from an existing owner, when and if one is listed for sale.

Last week, Crypto News Australia reported the auction sale of the Steve Jobs’ Job Application, where the real-world piece sold for 15 times more than its NFT asset. The difference with high-calibre NFTs such as those derived from the EtherRock series is that these particular NFTs are priced on the perceived collectible value they hold. This is because they date back to the days when NFT mania was new. There is no real-world physical asset sold with these NFTs, just the status of owning a rare digital collectible.

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Blockchain Crypto News Ethereum Gas

ETH Price Holds Strong as London Hard Fork Goes Live Successfully

August 5 was D-day for Ethereum’s London hard fork and saw its price remain strong following a 12-day winning streak. The long-anticipated upgrade will bring improvements to the efficacy of transactions on the network until Ethereum 2.0 is deployed in 2022.

Ethereum has gone live with some significant changes to its network. Five Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) are under way, the most notable being EIP-1559.

Saving on Transaction Fees

EIP-1559 is said to lower the transaction fees on Ethereum, but this is not entirely true. EIP-1559 will not so much lower the transaction fees as allow a better gauge of the actual transaction fee.

Users will no longer need to ‘cushion’ transactions with extra gas to ensure that miners process the transaction, allowing users to estimate the transaction cost more precisely and thus pay less. A developer at the Ethereum Foundation, Tim Beiko, has gone on to clarify that the cost will not be a “20x reduction” but instead a “20 percent reduction”.

‘Ultra-sound’ era

The London Hard Fork has introduced a deflationary model for Ether (ETH), with EIP-1559 setting the scene for what some have called an ‘ultra-sound’ era for Ethereum.

EIP-1559 will be destroying a large part of the high mining fees on Ethereum. The London hard fork means that transaction fees once paid to miners will now be burned and removed from circulation altogether.

The move has promoted Ethereuns to speculate that this will lead to a supply crunch as more of the coin is removed from circulation. Along with a decrease in supply, DeFi and NFTs within the Ethereum ecosystem increase the demand for Ethereum, so it is expected that the price of ETH will continue to rise.

The price has remained relatively stable following the London hard fork going live, with a drop of 0.14 percent in the past 24 hours. This follows a winning streak of 12 consecutive days and a price gain of 43 percent. 

It remains to be seen if the price of Ethereum has risen and will continue to rise due to a greater demand for the cryptocurrency.

By Jana Serfontein, Crypto News Australia Guest Author

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Bitcoin Crypto News Ethereum Real Estate

$8 Million Brisbane Mega Mansion Accepting Crypto Buyers

Two Brisbane property developers will accept digital currency as payment for a mansion to be built by their company in the city’s affluent inner north.

Brothers Rob and Andrew Gray of Graya have revealed renders of the lavish new trophy home they are building on Hamilton Hill, overlooking the Brisbane River.

Interior render of Scorpia, Hamilton Hill, Brisbane. Source: Graya/realestate.com

The Spanish-Greek styled home, dubbed Scorpia, will be built on Prospect Terrace next door to Larc, another Graya-designed mansion that sold off the plan last year for more than A$8 million.

Exterior render of Scorpia, Hamilton Hill, Brisbane. Source: Graya/realestate.com

According to Graya managing director Andrew Gray, prospective buyers can purchase the home using whatever their preferred mode of payment, but he says offering the alternative of cryptocurrency will open up the property to a wider market.

We want to market this property to all buyers, and many younger investors have a lot of their wealth tied up with cryptocurrency. Why limit the property’s selling potential? Bitcoin and ethereum have become reliable forms of investment and there is a whole market of buyers out there who are asset-rich in the crypto space. These are the buyers we want to connect with.

Andrew Gray, Graya

Real Estate Owners Are Increasingly Accepting Crypto

Gray offered the example of Miami, Florida as a market that has thrived since local real estate companies began accepting crypto as payment. “There are currently 16 oceanfront properties for sale in Miami that are accepting bitcoin and ethereum as payment. It’s only a matter of time until this becomes commonplace in Australia.”

Recently published Realtor.com data indicates that the number of people selling property for crypto assets is on the rise, with 14.3 crypto-accepting listings per 100,000 homes currently in the company’s database, up from 12.7 per 100,000 since 2018.

Last month, Crypto News Australia reported on the first-ever bitcoin-backed real estate refinance loan. And in April, American businessman and real estate manager Rick Caruso announced his company would allow tenants to rent his properties with bitcoin. Caruso Properties partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Gemini to handle all of its crypto payment operations and invested one percent of its treasury in bitcoin as a show of good faith.

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Crypto News Ethereum Gas Mining

$1 Million in ETH Burned 3 Hours Following London Hard Fork

The long-awaited Ethereum hard fork has been operational for a few days now and with a massive amount of ETH already burned, the currency could be well on its way to becoming deflationary.

At the time of writing, the total amount of Ethereum (ETH) burned since the London hard fork had already run up to 4300 ETH, about US$11 million worth of the digital currency. The network is burning the digital currency at approximately 3.68 ETH ($10,295) every minute on average.

Ethereum burn statistics. Source: watch the burn.com

The update has integrated a new mechanism that burns a portion of the base fee of a transaction, while the other portion goes to the miner. Shortly after implementation, the price of Ethereum jumped more than 6 percent, adding to its 12-day price gain.

Many other updates were administered in the Ethereum hard fork, and here’s what you need to know.

Change to a Flexible Monetary Policy Aids Deflation

By burning the majority of the base fee of transactions, the mechanism aims to deflate the supply of Ethereum. While a sustained rate of over 2 ETH per block is necessary to see Ethereum’s supply deflate, EIP-1559 is the first step on its road to a deflationary monetary currency.

The much anticipated EIP1559 network upgrade was a huge day for the Ethereum cryptocurrency ecosystem. Now, every transaction, NFT purchase or loan on the Ethereum network will result in ETH being burned out of existence, making ETH a deflationary and inflation-busting asset.

Ross Middleton, chief financial officer, DeversiFi

What Does the Change Mean for Users and Miners?

Looking at user experience, gas fees and Maximal Extractable Value (MEV), topics that usually have a negative connotation when talking about Ethereum are being solved.

Anyone sending a transaction will know the fee in advance; users currently have to submit a bid to miners, which can lead to overpaying or long wait times if the fee is too low. Meanwhile, the block size increase means the queue to get in will be faster during peak congestion […] To avoid being subject to gas price manipulation for gas refunds, smart contracts need access to a decent trustless gas price oracle. That’s another thing EIP-1559 solves.

Justin Drake, Ethereum 2.0 researcher

However, what miners will get from transactions is a fraction of what they used to be. While the current Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism sees Ethereum pay miners more than 12,000 ETH every day, experts believe Proof-of-Stake will reduce that to around 1,000 ETH per day.

When ETH gets burned it becomes more scarce, which benefits all holders. With enough activity on the network, the amount of ETH burned through transactions could surpass the amount issued to validators through Proof-of-Stake. This would make ETH deflationary, or as Drake would say, “ultrasound”.

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Blockchain ChainLink Crypto News Ethereum NFTs

AccuWeather Brings Weather Data to Smart Contracts Using Chainlink

US media company AccuWeather is launching a Chainlink node to place its application programming interfaces (APIs) directly onto blockchain-based smart contracts, the specialist weather information provider announced this week.

AccuWeather APIs include information such as temperature, precipitation, wind speed and natural disaster classifications. A few potential uses for AccuWeather-powered smart contracts include:

  • non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that can change depending on weather forecasts
  • weather prediction market hedges against natural disasters
  • automatic supply chain shifts correlated with the weather

Chainlink, an Ethereum-based network of decentralised blockchain oracles, allows off-chain data to be placed into smart contracts.

“As one of the first weather-related data products to join Chainlink, we are thrilled to expand our reach in bringing value to the emerging blockchain-based market,” commented Kurt Fulepp, AccuWeather’s global chief product officer.

Innovation is in our DNA at AccuWeather and integrating Chainlink demonstrates another way in which we deliver best-in class products to users and consumers in a diverse and growing number of platforms and spaces.

Kurt Fulepp, AccuWeather

How It Will Work

The ability to connect premium weather data to blockchain networks is critical to supporting the many new smart contracts being built on-chain for the forecasting industry. Smart contracts are data-driven applications that automate processes such as product pricing and contract settlement based directly on data feeds.

Smart contract developers need high-quality weather data from sources like AccuWeather to ensure outcomes accurately reflect weather conditions.

AccuWeather data can enable parametric crop and natural disaster insurance for regions where it is otherwise unavailable, hedging against future droughts, floods or associated sea level rises.

In March this year, cryptocurrency asset manager Grayscale added Chainlink to its suite of investment trusts. Shortly after, proof-of-work interactive blockchain Bytom announced it would integrate Chainlink as the oracle solution for its dApps, thus providing high-quality data and decentralised security.